Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s address at laying of foundation stone of various projects at Warangal, Telangana
My greetings to the people of Telangana!
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan ji, my Union Cabinet colleague Nitin Gadkari ji, G Kishan Reddy ji, Sanjay ji, other dignitaries and my brothers and sisters of Telangana! Recently Telangana has completed 9 years of its formation. Telangana state may be new but the contribution of Telangana and its people to the history of India has always been huge. The capability of the Telugu people has always enhanced the strength of India. That's why Telangana has played a major role in improving India's position as the fifth largest economic power in the world. And in such a scenario where the whole world is coming forward to invest in India and there is a lot of enthusiasm about looking at a developed India, there are a plethora of opportunities in front of Telangana.
Friends,
Today's new India is a young India and an India full of energy. We have finally entered this golden period in the third decade of the 21st century. We must make full use of every second of this golden period. No part of the country should be left behind in terms of any possibility of rapid development. In order to strengthen these possibilities, in the last 9 years, the Government of India has paid special attention to the development of Telangana and its connectivity. In line with this, the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 6,000 crore related to connectivity and manufacturing in Telangana has been laid today. I congratulate the people of Telangana for all these projects.
Friends,
If there are new goals, new paths also need to be created. India's rapid development was not possible on the basis of old infrastructure. If more time is wasted in commuting, if logistics is expensive, then both businesses as well as the people suffer. That is why our government is working with more speed and scale than ever before. Today, work is being done several times faster than before for every type of infrastructure. Today, a network of highways, expressways, economic corridors, industrial corridors is being laid across the country. Two lane highways are being converted into four lanes and four lane highways are being converted into six lanes. 9 years back, the National Highway network of Telangana was only 2500 kms, while today it has increased to 5000 kms. Today, 2500 km of National Highway projects in Telangana are in different phases of construction. Many of the dozens of corridors being built in the country under the Bharatmala project pass through Telangana. There are several examples in front of us such as Hyderabad-Indore Economic Corridor, Surat-Chennai Economic Corridor, Hyderabad-Panaji Economic Corridor, Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam Inter Corridor. In a way, Telangana is connecting the neighbouring economic centres and becoming a hub of economic activities.
Friends,
Today, the foundation stone of the Mancherial to Warangal section of the Nagpur-Vijayawada corridor has also been laid. It provides modern connectivity to Telangana till Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. This will greatly reduce the distance between Mancherial and Warangal and also reduce the problem of traffic jams. It particularly passes through those areas where there was lack of development, and our tribal brothers and sisters live in large numbers. This corridor will also strengthen the vision of multimodal connectivity. Four-laning of the Karimnagar-Warangal section will also strengthen connectivity to the Hyderabad-Warangal Industrial Corridor, Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and Warangal SEZ.
Friends,
The connectivity that the Government of India is increasing in Telangana today, is benefitting the industries of Telangana as well as tourism here. There are many heritage centres and religious places in Telangana. It is now becoming more convenient to visit these places. The industries related to agriculture here, the granite industry of Karimnagar, are also benefitting from the efforts of the Government of India. That is, be it farmers or labourers, students or professionals, everyone is getting benefitted out of it. Consequently, the youngsters are also getting new opportunities of employment and self-employment close to their homes.
Friends,
Manufacturing sector is becoming another important medium of providing employment to the youths in the country. Make in India campaign is another such medium. We have started PLI scheme to encourage manufacturing in the country. That means the one who is manufacturing more is getting special assistance from the Government of India. Under this, more than 50 major projects are being implemented here in Telangana. You are aware of the fact that India has created a new record in defence exports this year. India's defense export was less than Rs 1000 crore about 9 years ago. Today it has crossed Rs 16 thousand crore. Bharat Dynamics Limited based in Hyderabad is also benefiting from this.
Friends,
Today Indian Railways is also setting new records and new milestones in terms of manufacturing. These days people are talking a lot about Made in India Vande Bharat trains. Over the years, Indian Railways has manufactured thousands of modern coaches and locomotives. With this revamp of Indian Railways, now Kazipet is also going to connect with the new zest of Make in India. Now every month dozens of wagons will be manufactured here. As a result, new employment opportunities will be created in this area and every family here will be benefitted in one way or the other. This itself is 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'. We need to carry Telangana forward on this mantra of development. Once again, I congratulate all of you for these progressive projects, for the events and the new stream of development. My best wishes to you all! Thank you !
DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.